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Er, This Study Shows Bras Can Make Your Boobs...Saggier!

We wear bras because...well, ladies, why do we wear bras? Because according to this 15-year study, bras don't help relieve back pain, and they can actually make breasts saggier.

Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon and researchers from the University of Besancon in eastern France spent more than a decade (since 1997) measuring the breast changes in 330 volunteers, ages 18 to 35. They found that the nipples of women who didn't wear bras lifted upward an average of 7 millimeters (a little more than 1/4 inch)—and the breasts even became firmer.

Says Rouillon:

"Medically, physiologically, anatomically—breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity.... On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra. [When in a bra], supporting tissues will not grow and even they will wither and the breast will gradually degrade."

I'm curious what criteria were used to measure "firmer breasts"—the study isn't online yet—but let's press on! The researchers caution that, if you've worn bras for decades or more, you shouldn't strip 'em off—going braless would probably not be of much benefit at this point. Also, they say that their results are preliminary and apply to a small sample size—every woman's breasts are different, and some may simply find wearing a bra more comfortable.

According to one woman in the study (who has gone braless for two years): "There are multiple benefits: I breathe more easily, I carry myself better, and I have less back pain.... At first, I was a little reluctant to the idea of running without a bra, but I got started and after five minutes, I had no trouble at all."

OK, so—this running-without-a-bra thing. Is that something you feel comfortable doing? And what do you think of this study overall? When do you go braless?